Road to Hana Hikes: Every Walk on the Route, Compared

Road to Hana hikes, mile marker by mile marker

Road to Hana hikes split into two groups that have almost nothing in common. Between mile marker 2 and Hana town the walking is short: a forested wayside with picnic tables, paths through a garden, a few minutes down to a pool. The only trail with sustained distance and climb is 12 miles past the town, at Mile Marker 41, inside the Kipahulu District of Haleakala National Park.

Official figures exist for fewer of these walks than you would expect. The National Park Service publishes distance, elevation change and a difficulty rating for both Kipahulu trails. Hawaii State Parks describes its ancient coastal trail at Waianapanapa without giving a length. The Waikamoi Ridge Trail and the Keanae Arboretum Walk sit on the state's Na Ala Hele Maui trail list with no length or rating published. Where the table says a figure is not published, no official source has put a number on it, and any number you have read elsewhere came from somebody's watch.

Easy walks on the Road to Hana that take ten minutes

Treat this first group as stops with a short stretch of legs attached. The state waysides are where the parking is legal and the restrooms are real, which matters more on this road than trail quality: the official code of conduct tells visitors to use State park and County rest facilities instead of roadside pull-offs, to park only in marked stalls, and warns that a vehicle sticking out onto the highway can be towed.

If you want water close to the car, Puaa Kaa is the one to stop at. Its 5 acres hold small waterfalls and pools a short walk from the parking area, and there is no entrance charge during daylight hours. Kaumahina, which the transport department places between mile markers 10 and 13, gives you 7.8 acres of forest, picnic tables and a look down the northeast coast, with no drinking water on site. Wailua Valley State Wayside involves no walking at all, just a 1.5-acre lookout.

Two paid stops are walks rather than hikes. The Garden of Eden Arboretum at mile marker 10.5 keeps 26 acres of paths open from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. daily. Kahanu Garden at 650 Ulaino Road runs its self-guided route 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday to Friday, clearing the garden by 3:30 p.m., and the walk around Piilanihale Heiau takes about an hour.

The Pipiwai Trail at Mile Marker 41

This is the hike people mean when they ask about serious walking on the Hana Highway. The National Park Service gives it as 4 miles round trip with 800 feet of elevation change and rates it moderately strenuous. The waypoints are useful for deciding how far to go: the Makahiku Falls overlook arrives about 0.5 miles in, the boardwalks through the bamboo forest about a mile in, and the viewing area for 400-foot Waimoku Falls at two miles one way. Turning back at the overlook or at the bamboo is a perfectly good day.

The short option at the same trailhead is the Kuloa Point Trail, 0.5 miles in total with 80 feet of elevation change, starting at the Kipahulu Visitor Center and running out to the coast and the archaeological sites. It is also the only place the park service says you can view the Pools of Oheo safely, since entry into the pools is not allowed.

Getting there is the hard part. Kipahulu lies 12 miles beyond Hana town, the park service puts the drive from Kahului at approximately 4 hours via Route 36 to 360 to 31, and the district has no closing time, so daylight and your own turn-around time are the only limits. Drinking water is available at the visitor center and no food is sold anywhere in the park. Entry is $30 per private vehicle for 3 days across both the Kipahulu and Summit districts, card only, with no cash accepted. Work out before you set off on the trail that help is a long way behind you: the park service puts emergency medical assistance at least one hour away from this district.

Mud, loose rock and what to put on your feet

Expect mud on these trails in any month of the year. The park service's own accessibility notes describe the Kipahulu trails to the pools and the forest as muddy, steep and rocky, and difficult in a wheelchair, while the paved path between the visitor center, the accessible parking and the restrooms is the part that stays firm. The boardwalks carry the Pipiwai Trail through the wettest stretch of bamboo about a mile in.

For footwear the official line is short: sturdy hiking shoes are highly recommended on East Maui trails because they can be steep with loose cinders or rock, and visitors should plan for rain at any time of year. That rules out the flip-flops most people are wearing when they leave Kahului. Hana averages 82.28 inches of rain a year and no month drops below 4 inches, so wet rock and standing water are a planning assumption rather than bad luck.

Where a trail meets water, keep out of it. Entering or wading in Kipahulu streams is not recommended by the park service, whose hazard list for the district runs to leptospirosis, E. coli and rock falls in gulches and below waterfalls. Its own measurement for how fast East Maui streams can come up is 4 feet in 10 minutes. On Hana Highway trails a stream crossing that looks shallow at 9 a.m. is a different proposition after an hour of rain upstream.

• Sturdy hiking shoes with grip, because the park service warns of steep ground with loose cinders and rock
• A rain layer regardless of month or forecast
• Long sleeves and trousers in light colours, with repellent containing 20 to 30% DEET or picaridin, oil of lemon eucalyptus or IR3535, as advised by Hawaii's health department
• Mineral sunscreen rather than oxybenzone, octinoxate or octocrylene, per NOAA's reef guidance, and shade between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
• Water in the bottle before you leave Hana; refills are available at the Kipahulu Visitor Center, and no food is sold in the park

Closed areas, streams in heavy rain and private land

Three pieces of official guidance govern walking here, and all three exist because people ignore them. The park service tells visitors to stay out of closed areas at Kipahulu and does not recommend entering or wading in its streams. The Pools of Oheo are not accessible for entry on safety grounds and are viewed from the Kuloa Point Trail. Staying out of streams during heavy rain or flash-flood conditions is written into Hawaii's Road to Hana code of conduct, which applies to every pool and crossing along the highway, inside the park and outside it.

The third rule is about land. The code of conduct asks visitors to avoid sites on or beyond private property and any place without visitor-welcoming signage, which covers a good number of the waterfall pull-offs that circulate online as secret trails. Park in designated stalls, walk only where there is signage inviting you in, and spend your money at the farms, gardens and fruit stands that do welcome visitors.

Which tour fits the walking you want to do

Match the itinerary to the hiking level before you match it to the price. A 4-mile trail with 800 feet of climb needs a solid block of time at Mile Marker 41, on top of a drive the park service puts at about 4 hours each way from Kahului, so it only fits inside a long day. If Pipiwai is the reason you are going, check with the operator that the itinerary reaches the Kipahulu District before you book, rather than assuming a full-route day includes it.

For short walks only, a half-day works better than a compressed full day. Ten-minute walking suits the Half Day Private VIP Road to Hana Tour, 4 to 5 hours from $279 and rated 4.9 ★ (127 reviews): a private air-conditioned vehicle, snacks, soda, coffee or tea and boogie boards on board, no meals included, and a start at Island Fresh Cafe in Paia where the parking is reserved and secure. It keeps you in the early mile markers where the walking is measured in minutes.

Walkers who want the whole road with few people around them can look at the Maui: Small Group Road to Hana Tour: 8 to 10 hours from $282, rated 4.6 ★ (1092 reviews), 6 to 8 passengers, hotel pickup and drop-off at both ends, continental breakfast, a hot Hawaiian BBQ plate lunch made to order and every fee and tax already covered. Bags must fit under the seat, vegetarian plates need 48 hours' notice, and the operator does not carry wheelchairs, scooters, walkers or crutches, which is worth knowing if mobility is already the question.

Solo walkers and Kahului-based days have a cheaper way in. On the Maui Tour: Road to Hana Day Trip from Kahului the day runs 7 to 8 hours from $200, rated 4.7 ★ (159 reviews), in an air-conditioned vehicle, with breakfast, a sub or veggie wrap, chips and water handed out along the way, no minimum party size, and a 7:20 a.m. meet in Kahului or 8:30 a.m. for cruise guests. Hawaii's tourism authority encourages visitors to do this road as a permitted guided tour, and on a wet day with muddy trails that advice earns itself.

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